Chapter 1 The Turtle

As Umbra floated in the sky level with the massive turtle's head, a pressure pushed down on Elysia's mind as a feminine voice spoke, "Greetings Young Elemental."

Elysia stumbled back several steps.

The pressure vibrated almost like it was laughing as the voice spoke again, "what does a young elemental such as yourself want with my city?"

How should she respond? What could she even say? She didn't want to be squashed. Thrazk said to be respectful, but what was respectful to a massive turtle?

"Little Thrazk is still at it? Maybe I should use my well-known anger thanks to him to kick him off my shell for a while." commented the voice now known to be Urus.

Elysia tensed, lightning flaring in her core. Was Urus reading her mind?

"Of course, how could I not? Cute little beings like you have such simple minds."

Anger ignited at the perceived insult, but Elysia smothered it in the name of survival. Still, an errant thought snuck through. "I'd rather be simple than be the size of a city."

Elysia's eyes widened, cringing for the backlash only for the pressure to flutter in amusement. "That's what I love about young beings. The random thoughts are quite entertaining."

With tremors running through her body, Elysia prodded, "so you aren't going to crush me if I think the wrong thing?"

The turtle stared down at the ship for several seconds, causing Elysia to fidget. "Maybe."

Already exhausted from the interaction, Elysia shifted the conversation. "So can we pass?"

"Nope."

Elysia deflated, running through other potential routes to survival and freedom before Urus continued. "Adorable. I think I'll keep you and your companions for a little while. Though I suggest you keep your ravenous kitten away from me."

Before Elysia could respond, the geyser shot Umbra into the sky. Elysia hung on the railing for dear life as Umbra descended into a freefall. Despite knowing better, Elysia peered over the railing to find Umbra a hundred meters above the turtle and falling fast. With a bird's-eye view, the expansive scaly city presented itself in all its glory. At the exact center of the city was a lake with perfectly smooth waters, which took up almost a quarter of the shell. Surrounding the lake were buildings of all shapes and colors. The only similarity of the building being their construction material. Every building appeared to be made of scales as if grown out of Urus's shell. For all Elysia knew, it could be.

Any further thoughts of surveying the city vanished as Umbra neared the city at a terrifying pace. Elysia clenched the railing of her ship with a death grip as her life flashed past her vision. Just before reaching the surface, another geyser sent Umbra shooting upward once again before gently lowering her to the lake. The current pushed Umbra next to a pier where she stilled with no anchor points.

The sound of retching brought Elysia's mind back into focus. She pushed herself upright, swaying for a moment with vertigo. After recovering, her eyes snapped toward the windshield to find Joe appearing unaffected, but Eva was leaning over the railing, puking her guts out. Elysia rushed inside, zeroing in on Ione licking her puffed tail while still on the couch.

Unfortunately, unlike her mostly unaffected companions, Umbra was a mess. The once tidy control room looked like a tornado went off or an uncontrolled Eva. She cringed upon checking the kitchen. A perfect job for Eva or Joe. They had to earn their keep if the massive kidnapping turtle didn't eat them first.

Done with inspecting above deck, Elysia wandered down toward her inner sanctum, breathing a sigh of relief upon finding her room mostly unaffected other than her bags of clothes scattered about her closet. Good thing she didn't unpack the clothes Eva ordered.

Elysia scanned her bedroom as Ione trotted into the bedroom, tail back in order. The silvery kitten hopped onto the bed before loafing while facing Elysia with an expectant twinkle in her violet eyes.

Without thinking about it, Elysia laid on her bed then started petting Ione as her thoughts wandered. Well, I made it here. What to do now? She was probably safe from the Changed teams, but now she was stuck on a massive turtle. Elysia froze, then corrected her thoughts. Sorry, I mean no disrespect Colossus Urus.

A fluttering of the ever present pressure eased her nerves. Still, she resolved herself to censor the word turtle from her thoughts just in case. If the turtle didn't squash them, it probably wanted to keep them alive for now. Until she knew more, she should consulate her crew. She didn't want to look like a fool in front of Urus after all.

With her mind made up, she crawled out of bed to the dismay of Ione. She attempted to jump into Elysia's arms, only for Elysia to dodge the now heavy kitten.

Elysia stared down apologetically at the droopy tailed cat. "Sorry Ione, but you are too big to carry now." Unable to bear Ione's depression felt through their bond, she added, "Don't worry, I'll try to make it up to you with more head scratches. If you grow big and strong enough, we can go on adventures together too."

Thoughts of hunting delicious prey flashed through Ione's mind, perking her up as she followed Elysia out into the bedroom with her tail and head proudly raised.

Once upstairs, she found Eva and Joe in the control room, as always. Eva still appeared slightly green, but was in no danger of puking. They directed their attention to Elysia as she opened her mouth to speak. "So we made it here. What do you guys think we should do now? I think it's safe to say we are stuck here for a bit, but I think we are safe from the Changed and President Burns. Though we need to keep our guard up, just in case."

Joe remained silent in contemplation, but Eva blurted. "Shopping!"

With a deadpan expression, Elysia stared at the now completely recovered girl. "With what money?"

"The skill crystals, of course! Joe said they could buy almost anything."

Elysia's gaze gravitated to the bag filled with the skill crystals on the end table, then shifted to Joe with a judgmental look. "What did you tell her? We can't just go on a spending spree. Besides, Urus might squash us if we leave Umbra."

"In my defense I didn't say we should sell them yet, only that they could fetch a great price in Seattle or Vancouver." Elysia's gaze intensified, prompting Joe to add, "She has a point though. When we find out if they are worth something here, we could sell a few to fund better gear. Don't you have some monster materials you want turned into weapons and armor?"

Eva nodded along enthusiastically, but Elysia frowned. "Yes, I do, but I have no idea where to go for that or where to sell the skill crystals."

As the ever present and nosey turtle she was, Urus spoke in the trio's minds. "I will send someone over shortly as an escort."

With a victorious smile, Eva added, "Even better, an escort to help us find the best shops to spend our money."

Elysia raised an eyebrow. "Our? Last time I checked, I earned those skill crystals myself before I even met you."

"Whatever. You said so yourself you need to keep me safe so I can protect Umbra. That means I need better gear and supplies to work on repairing Umbra's systems." Argued Eva, refusing to back down.

A groan escaped Elysia's mouth. She turned to Joe for support, only for him to smile in silence. "Fine, but I have final say in anything we buy and when I say no, that means no."

Before Elysia could back out, Eva nodded excitedly. "Deal!"

Already exhausted from the conversation, Elysia dropped onto the couch and petted Ione, who had been loafing, while watching the trio talk amongst each other.

After a minute in silence with Eva staring out the windshield, practically vibrating the childlike excitement, Elysia turned to Joe, who was watching Eva with a soft smile. "So, while we wait, do you mind if I ask you some more questions?"

Joe shifted his gaze to Elysia with a friendly expression. "Of course, ask away."

Elysia took a moment to formulate her thoughts before beginning. "So, one thing that has been bothering me since I ran into a captain outside Neah Bay is how they were so much stronger. After entering the path with my class evolution, I understand there is a big boost, but not to the point I couldn't even see the captain move. Did normal humans get another advantage with their class evolution?"

With his full attention on Elysia, Joe explained, "I don't know what options you received, but we receive several options with a focus on a specific life path. For example, that captain probably had a class evolution focused on protecting his ship or doing his job. From what I've read, these skills may be powerful but only work in specific circumstances. The stronger the skill, the more limitations it has. The Illusion skill I used may be powerful, but I can't move while performing it and it has a high mana cost. If someone were to resist the illusion, I would be a sitting duck. Each skill could have different limitations, like the Illusion skill I used to trick the nightcrawlers doesn't work on sentient beings and I need to have a line of sight."

"Weird, as far as I can tell, I don't have any limitations, though my skills aren't as versatile as those." Commented Elysia.

Joe's expression turned thoughtful as he continued, "Maybe they will grow as you level them. I can't say for sure as I wasn't privy to class information about Changed and even if I was, we can't be sure you follow the same rules after your evolution."

Elysia nodded her head with a smile, "Still, any information helps." She fell silent for a moment until another thought came to her. "Another thing I'm curious about is attribute scaling. Does everyone have the same attribute scaling?"

"As far as I know, yes. At least with humans. The only difference is the base capabilities of the person. For example, a power lifter will have a higher base strength than a researcher who focuses on knowledge of fitness." Replied Joe.

With a confused expression, Elysia commented, "Huh, my class evolution gave me higher attribute scaling for some attributes."

"How unusual. Maybe it's because of your new race."

"Maybe."

Before Elysia could ask another question, Urus spoke in her head. "Your escort is outside."

Elysia looked out the side window to find a red scaled lizard person who was much thinner and shorter than Thrazk.

Suddenly self-conscious, Elysia scanned what she and her crew were wearing. To her dismay, only Eva was decently presentable with a rufflely dark purple T-shirt and jeans. Joe was the worst offender still wearing his camo gear from the China Creek dungeon. She eyeballed Joe but winced, realizing while he was on the thin side, he was far too big for her clothes. Seeing no other way to make him more presentable, she shrugged her shoulders, deciding to roll with her current outfit of a tank top and shorts.

As she opened her mouth to prompt her crew to follow her, Eva finally noticed their escort waiting for them with a patient smile on her scaly face. Eva let out a squeal as she turned to Elysia. "Let's go!"

Instead of following Eva's wishes, Elysia snatched the big filled with crystals before descending below deck to grab the other pouch and her backpack.

Finally, she returned to the control room to find Eva's face practically glued to the window, staring at their escort, who was trying their best to avoid eye contact. Elysia yanked Eva away from the window before drilling into her eyes with a serious expression. "Calm down! We are going into unknown territory. While they've been friendly so far, we need to be careful."

Eva nodded her head in understanding, but her eyes continued to sparkle with excitement.

Giving up on Eva, Elysia turned to Joe to mouth 'keep her in line' before walking out the side door toward the pier.